Started as an independent producer in 1988

Chapter 17 The First Independent Filmmaker

When the lanterns first came on, Chen Shiping said goodbye to Qin Zhaoyang and went back to the film studio.

Chen Shiping was a little dizzy after drinking some wine, but he was very happy.

Xu Sanguan's Blood Seller is about to be published, and he can finally stop taking a dead salary.

The only bad thing is that before the 1990s, writers who published novels did not receive royalties.

There is only a basic remuneration, which is calculated based on a maximum of 30 per thousand words, or a remuneration based on the number of prints.

Chen Shiping can only get a few thousand yuan based on the basic royalties. If the royalties are based on the number of prints, it will be more. As long as the sales volume is good, he can still earn tens of thousands of yuan.

But this is enough for Chen Shiping to improve his life. If he wants to make more money, street stall literature is a good way. He can also make a lot of money by choosing a pen name of a foreign writer and writing a few erotic novels.

When Chen Shiping thinks of erotic novels, he thinks of women, and when he thinks of women, he thinks of Tao Huimin.

Suddenly he remembered that he had made an appointment with Tao Huimin to watch a movie together, and Chen Shiping suddenly became more awake.

I felt regretful about missing this opportunity and wondered if she would agree to date him next time.

The first step was aborted before it even started. When would he, an older man, stop sleeping with a dog?

After Chen Shiping washed his face and sobered up a lot, he drove the woman out of his mind and took out the script of Xu Sanguan's Blood Seller that he had finished revising a long time ago from his desk.

During this period of time, he has been deliberately changing the script slowly, just to go to the Red Mansion crew every day to establish a relationship with Mr. Xie and Xie Tieli. Now that Xu Sanguan's Blood Seller is about to be published, there is no need to continue delaying it.

Early the next morning, Chen Shiping followed the car to the Red Mansion crew on time and handed the script he had revised directly to Mr. Xie.

After Xie Lao and Xie Tieli read the script together, they both felt that this version was very well revised.

The historical background and time in the script are blurred, and those sensitive issues are naturally not so sensitive.

The environment was relatively better in 1988, and film censorship was more relaxed than in the 1990s.

"Now that the script has been revised, will you continue to stay in the group?" Mr. Xie looked at Chen Shiping and asked.

Chen Shiping said with a smile: "Of course I want to stay. I also want to add my name to the title of the movie."

"It's ready to go." Xie Tieli suddenly looked up at Chen Shiping and said, "Go and work on Xu Sanguan. The directors in the factory have been coming to me every day during this period. They are all very anxious."

"Who is the director planning to arrange in the factory?" Chen Shiping asked nonchalantly.

Xie Tieli looked at him and said with a smile, "Do you have any ideas?"

Chen Shiping didn't shy away from it and said directly: "Yes, yes, but the factory won't listen to my opinion. How can the screenwriter have the right to make the final decision? If it were an independent production, it would be about the same."

"Haha, it's not that simple to be an independent producer." Xie Tieli patted Chen Shiping on the shoulder and said, "Submit the script to the factory first, and then raise your request when we discuss it in a meeting later."

"Okay, but I'd better stay in the team during this period. The script for the sixth part hasn't been finalized yet. I'll leave the team after the script is completed." Chen Shiping still wants to start well and end well.

After Xie Tieli went to shoot, Mr. Xie took the initiative to tell Chen Shiping about the current situation in the factory.

There is no precedent for independent production in China. There are indeed directors in the factory who want to make independent films, but they are just for the sake of fame. In the end, they still have to rely on people from the factory to provide money.

After Chen Shiping listened, he pondered for a while and asked: "Mr. Xie, if I can attract investment without using the factory's money, can this independent production work?"

Mr. Xie looked at Chen Shiping and shook his head and said: "It's difficult. This movie requires at least 800,000 yuan of investment. How can you get so much money? Besides, that guy from Huangpu has already submitted a report and wants to be the first independent producer." It’s over.”

"Let's fight for it. I like the title of No. 1 Independent Producer." Chen Shiping looked at Mr. Xie and said seriously: "This is my first novel. I am worried about handing it over to others. I hope Mr. Xie can help me."

Seeing how serious Chen Shiping was, Mr. Xie finally nodded in agreement.

However, there is a prerequisite: Chen Shiping can attract investment, otherwise the factory will not support two nominal "independent producers" at the same time.

Receiving Mr. Xie's support was tantamount to receiving Xie Tieli's support. Chen Shiping felt confident.

This is considered to be one-third, and the remaining two-thirds depend on Chen Shiping himself.

Eight hundred thousand, even thirty years later is not a small amount.     But it’s not impossible to find such a large amount of money. There is a rich woman in the crew.

The worst thing is to find a few more rich women to beg for help!

If it doesn't work, I can only write something illegal in exchange for money. Who makes street stall literature so popular?

Chen Shiping was not in a hurry to find investment immediately. It is not that easy to make a movie.

People who don't know the art may think that if there is a script, how difficult can it be to find a few people to film it?

But there are many problems here, where the money comes from, where the people come from, where and how long the filming will take, what equipment and props are needed, these are just some preliminary preparations.

When a movie actually starts shooting, various problems will arise, which cannot be summed up in a simple sentence in a novel.

Making money is the first step, and it is this step that will stump 99% of people.

Chen Shiping felt that he had to write a few erotic novels as soon as possible to make money. With the ability of pirated booksellers, they could sell them all over the country in a month at most, which was much more efficient than regular publishing houses.

"you are leaving?"

Tao Huimin's voice suddenly appeared in Chen Shiping's ears, startling Chen Shiping who was thinking about the erotic plot.

"No, I won't leave until I finish the script for the sixth part." Chen Shiping stood up and looked at Tao Huimin and said.

"Oh."

Tao Huimin bit her lip and stopped talking. She didn't know if she had said more than a hundred words to Chen Shiping, and she didn't know what to say.

"Let's go together."

"it is good."

Two people were walking in the Grand View Garden. One was wearing a leather jacket and the other was wearing a beautiful shirt and skirt. The two people mixed together looked strangely harmonious.

Several actresses resting not far away couldn't help but gossip when they watched this scene.

"My young lady has moved on, brother Bao, are you angry?" Chen Hong, who plays Sister Lin's personal maid, looked at Xia Qing teasingly and said.

Xia Qing laughed and hugged Chen Hong and said, "You call me Sister Xia outside the show. I'm not a precious brother. Men are the most boring."

"I think men are interesting." Chen Hong said meaningfully while looking at Chen Shiping walking through the peach blossom forest.

Xia Qing glanced at Chen Hong in surprise, feeling that Sister Lin was about to be stabbed in the back by the maid.

Sure enough, the deep love between master and servant can only be found in movies.

At night, when Chen Shiping came back from work, he looked through the book "Hungry Eros" and felt that the writing was quite boring.

The story is not strong enough, the details are not good enough, and the most important scale is not as big as Chen Shiping thought.

This kind of novel can be called a sexual novel, and it is conservative enough, not even as good as Jia Pingwa's Abandoned Capital.

Chen Shiping thought that the plots of short movies were more exciting than those in novels. This kind of novels were too simple for him.

Chen Shiping seemed to see a steady stream of money flying towards him.

Using money from writing erotic novels to make classic literary works always feels like robbing the rich and giving to the poor...oh, it feels like using waste.

Chen Shiping opened the manuscript paper and started writing.

The title of the book is The Secret of a Young Woman, and the pen name is Kato. Isn’t it popular to pretend to be a Japanese novelist?

Teach the ignorant teenagers in the 1980s a lesson: sex and love are not simple repetitive exercises.

(The previous chapters from Chapter 6 to Chapter 13 have been greatly revised and can be read again. I hope all foster parents will support you!)

(End of this chapter)